iRobot to use Android to power the new AVA robot

Robotics company iRobot is most well-known for being the company behind the Roomba and Scooba line of household cleaning bots, but they’re also one of the largest commercial robotics companies in the word. iRobot also made an appearance at Google I/O this week to show off its new AVA robot, a model that uses Google Android–namely a Motorola Xoom tablet running Honeycomb–as its brain.

The AVA prototype is designed to fill the gap between high-end and expensive robots like the kind used by the US military for emergency rescues and diffusing bombs and the lower-end bots used to vacuum and clean floors. iRobot CEO Colin Angle took the stage at Google I/O to talk about how developers can use Android and Android tablets as both the brain and the face of robots like the AVA.

The tablet sits on top of the robot’s body in this case, and leverages a video camera and microphone on the body to interact with users. The AVA can also move around, avoid moving and fixed obstacles, and accept commands. Angle noted that a similar prototype of the AVA was on display at CES in January, sporting an Apple iPad where the Motorola Xoom is now, but said that “Android has what we need,” when it comes to voice and video chat and a more open development environment that allows them to tinker with the software.

The AVA robot as it is today is essentially a wheeled platform with a tablet on top. The tablet rests on the robot’s “head,” and a long neck extends down to the wheels at the bottom. The robot doesn’t have arms or any other appendages, but it is mobile. The early models are clearly designed to be used by developers who want to extend the robot’s capabilities, and they could be available as early as this year. Later on, the company sees the AVA as useful for telepresence and video chat when business models are released next year.

Whether someone would rather use a robot as a body to move around their offices when they’re not there instead of simple video conferencing software and a Web cam remains to be seen. Still, the end goal is to build robots that can be controlled by easily-programmable apps and interacting with their users in meaningful ways, and iRobot wants to get there sooner rather than later.